In the context of desktop or laptop computers, headphones have long provided the user not only with a useful practical tool for listening to audio media through the computer without disturbing others, but have afforded a desirable “cocoon” effect that permits the user to engage in pleasurable listening until such a time that the headphones must be unplugged and other business needs to be addressed. Often, headphone reception of the audio content needs to give way to transmission of such content through the computer's built-in speakers, or regrettably the user must move to another task altogether.
Often, an unpleasant surprise is encountered when the user chooses to put the computer in suspend mode. If the headphones have been removed and nothing more has been done to mute or attenuate the audio content, then a sudden blast of noise may burst out of the computer as soon as it comes out of suspend mode, thus causing great discomfort or embarrassment to the user or others around him or her. Of course, muting or attenuating the sound ahead of time would avert such a situation, but this is often seen as an undesirable extra step.
Similar problems are often encountered with computer microphones. Whereas computers often have built-in microphones, external ones can be plugged into a jack on the computer. If the latter is the case, then it will often happen that, again, upon unplugging the external microphone and putting the computer in suspend mode, the computer's built-in microphone will quickly activate at some time later as soon as the computer comes out of suspend mode. This can cause undesirable problems such as feedback or the unintentional and unauthorized recording of individuals. Again, the problem can be averted ahead of time by consciously deactivating the computer's built-in microphone before going into suspend, but this is also an undesirable extra step.
Accordingly, a need has been recognized in connection with averting the problems and annoyances discussed hereabove, in a way to provide a user with some reassurance that built-in speakers or microphones can easily be deactivated, in connection with the unplugging of an external headphone arrangement or microphone, without much effort.